The Limitations of Acceptance & Removal Thereof
by FromTheAshesBloomCherryTrees
Summary: A Human!Happy Tree Town Crew. A Flippy/Flaky romance. Hopefully, with substance and no grammatical errors...
1. Crash Into Hello

**A/N: First things first; thanks for clicking that fateful link that brought you here! In this story, I made them human *Prepares for the tomato throwing*, b/c I found it much easier to make this story work if they are. Such as Flaky being more huggable in her fanon human body, for the imperative lack of DEADLY quills. And this isn't going to a (Oh! They just met, now their in love. YAY!) story, regardless of the fact that my goal in this is to get Flippy and Flaky together. I will try my best to give this story substance. Feel free to let me know if I fall short. . . . . and if you spot any grammatical errors. I hate those like a snowman hates Dallas in the middle of June. **

* * *

><p>Only fools believed Cuddles when he said something along the lines of "Aw, Come on! It'll be fine.", or "Don't be a scaredy-cat, It'll be fun!". Flaky was no fool. So it made her feel even worse when she would later berate herself for agreeing to whatever hare-brained scheme Cuddles cooked up, because she couldn't even blame her submission on stupidity. Just her weak-willed knees.<p>

**oXoXoXo**

Flippy's first thought when he met Flaky was _"OuchOuchOuch!". _For Flaky had practically ran him over in her haste to promptly get the hell away from whatever had already sent her into a panic attack, before it sent her into heart attack.

As they came to a stop from their impromptu duck, tuck and roll, Flaky failed to notice the body she was currently tucked into a neat ball, quietly shacking, on top of. Until it's moan turned into a sneeze. Due to Flaky's shaking, her dandruff had been falling out of her outrageously long and otherwise gorgeous, albeit messy, red hair. Which is out triggered what, or rather _who,_ she was on to cease bemoaning their current situation and how _that _was gonna feel in the morning to sneeze, as some of the before mentioned dandruff had found it's way up Flippy's nose.

Startled, once again, Flaky jumped slightly at the realization that the something solid she was sitting on was a someone. Which didn't work out too well for Flippy, as she was still sitting on his chest…. "Hoh_!" "There goes my second wind…Not that he weighs much, but still…_"

Finally, something in her brain to body that in order to let the guy underneath her up, she herself would have to get off him. In her own panic-y manner, scrambled off the fella with dog tags stuttering an apology she could only hope he'd accept. Then she spotted a green beret lying abandoned on the sidewalk. Skittishly picking the fallen headwear and turning it unceasingly in her hand by the bottom hems, she accounted to who she was sure was the hat's owner her unjust yet undeniable reasons for bulldozing him over.

"I-I'm so-so-so sorry! I was, I was, um, I was trying to get away from, the err, um, the _little yellow beasts_." The last bit was whispered as she ducked down, rose her tense shoulders and clenched her hand upon the thoroughly abused beret. As if afraid that if the beasts heard her speak of them, they would appear before her and torment her anew.

"_Poor thing, scared out of her mind_."

Chuckling quietly to himself, Flippy held out his hand and said "May I have my hat back, little Miss…." trailing off, in what he hoped was a calm and not too teasing tone.

It would be counterproductive if she fell into a catatonic state from shock before she give him her name, that he obviously implied wanting. Regardless of Flippy's caution she still jumped as if someone had hit her.

"Hmm? Oh! THE-THE HAT! I am sorry. . ." she winced, then in took a quick gulp of air in attempt to steady herself ". . . A-a-again."

Not wanting to seem rude, she tried to reign in her stutter by calming her nerves with a deep breath.

"I, uh, I am, er, I'm called Flaky. A lot. So, you can. I mean, you can call me Flaky."

Holding the beret out at arms length in his direction, she glanced back and forth between the ground and the fella in front of her. A slight smile graced Flippy's lips as took note of her trembling hands on his precious beret.

"Thanks." Placing his hand upon his hat, neither avoiding or overly noticing his fingers meeting hers, withdrew it from her still shaking form.

"Well, hello then, Flaky. You can call me Flippy." His smile, friendly and unbiased was almost too much of a shock for poor Flaky. Coupled with the freshly ingrained knowledge that no one cared to remember her real name after realizing that no one bothered call her that, opposed to her nickname. (her reason for giving him her permanent alias, instead of her given name) was too much for poor Flaky.

So she promptly burst into quiet tears, her whole body quaking.

_"Oh, no. Oh, crap. What did I do?"_

Flippy had never been in a situation, yes it had escalated to situation status, quite like this. A young girl he never met before, seemingly perpetually afraid of life, reduced to tears over giving him her name? What was he supposed to do? Walk away? Not an option, even from the beginning. Um, get help? From who? Did anybody know her? Happy Tree Town wasn't that big of a place and she certainly seemed out of her element. So getting someone else involved would just make more complicated.

"_First things first, get her to calm down."_

"Um, here." Flippy held out a handkerchief, he'd fished from one of his many pockets.

His voice startled Flaky, who so was so lost in self-deprecating thoughts, she had nearly forgotten his presence. A hand outstretched toward her, holding a white handkerchief was a sight to see for her. Flaky took him up on his offer, taking it in her own hands.

"_She still shaking" _

_"Maybe she'll feel a bit more at peace if she's comfortable. Home is where the heart is, right?" _He thought hopefully.

"Um, why don't you head home? I'll walk you if you'd like."

But that was the wrong thing to say. If Flippy was concerned about how upset Flaky was moments ago, he was freaking out about how much harder she cried when he mentioned 'home'.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know Flippy said "not that HE weighs much…" that was intentional. I promise. ;) I hope you liked it! If so, there's more where that came from! If not, there's still more….but you don't have to read it! I have something terrible to tell you guys, I don't have conflict! A good story can't exist without a conflict! I sort-of have an idea... but please leave suggestions. I'd really like 'em. **


	2. Curtains Match The Window

I'll give a big, beautiful cookie to anyone who sees my chapter title theme...

Flaky was sitting in a extremely comfy, ludicrously cushion-y, easy chair.

**oXoXoXo**

"Um, come on, kiddo. Please calm down. Um, let's go to my place." Completely floored by her ability to, well to put it nicely, to flood her face with a steady stream of tears. Going to his place seemed like a good idea. Especially since from her reaction to her "home" was so drastic. Maybe she would calm down if she felt welcome? He didn't have any other ideas.

The shock on Flaky's face made him realize how bad that sounded out of context.

"I mean, let's go to my place, sit you down in a nice chair. So you and I can talk. Nice and calm. How's that sound?"

_Gently. She spooked, easy goes it. Gently now._

"That, _sniff,_ that sounds g-good, _sniff." _Attempting to dry her eyes. A sight that doesn't usually inspire laughter, a small lost-looking girl, tears streaming, trying to tame her sorrows. However, Flippy was hard-pressed to keep straight face as she was drying her eyes with his handkerchief. Which she had already soaked through. She was so . . . endearing.

Turning to put his arm around her shoulder, partly to steer her towards his house, and partly to keep her from seeing a small smile he couldn't quite repress, Flippy said "I'll make you something to eat if you want."

The rest of the walk consisted Flippy's calm words and soft, comforting suggestions concerning trivial things that were so important at that time. Things like his furniture, something he called The Chair, and Flaky's quiet consent.

**oXoXoXo**

At first she was afraid it would've eaten her whole. It was an odd chair. When she sat down, she sank, then buoyed back up from it's fluffy abyss. . . and stayed up.

_?_

Flippy seeing her shock, feared another bout of waterworks. He didn't think he could handle another one of those just yet, even though it seemed she simply one to tear up easily. It was his first time dealing with someone with such a . . . shakable constitution.

"Um, excuse me?"

Lost in thought about his new friend(?), Flippy, ironically overlooked her when she tried to get his attention.

Severely discouraged, she tried again, "Excuse me?"

Still no response. Though this could have been due the fact that when she spoke, she spoke to the floor and in her mumble-y way. Which would've been okay for the most part, except that she did it even quieter than her already soft tone.

_. . . . . . _

"Excuse Me!"

"Hmm? Oh! I'm sorry! What is it?" he said in a embarrassedly.

"Um, I was going to say…" she paused uncomfortably. She seemed embarrassed as well?

"Yes?"

"I, um. . . you have a very nice chair here." She continued with a little more confidence when she saw his eyes gleaming with pride, "I think it's lovely. And such a beautiful color."

"That, my new found friend," anyone who liked The Chair, was instantly a okay in Flippy's book, "was a gift. From a very good buddy of mine." He continued solemnly, "He's gone now."

"I'm sorry." was the equally solemn response.

A silence, neither comfortable or awkward, followed. In which they had a wordless conversation of the eyes. He searched hers not for falsehood, but for whatever was behind the sincerity. Was it empathy? It saddened him to know that such fragile creature had known such great sorrow. The depth of her eyes amazed him. He mused about the idea of her endless reserve of tears simply being emotion overflowing from the rim.

She searched his for acceptance. Not of herself, but of her condolences. She wanted to know if he really understood the depth, the meaning of her previous words, however overused the were. Flaky found it. Among the regret in his troubled eyes was his acceptance. Of more than she ever would've thought anyone could accept anything about her.

Which made her just uncomfortable enough to end their nonverbal chat.

"Um, may I use your restroom?" was all Flaky could come up with after racking her brain for something profound to say.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. . ." he trailed off. It was unclear, even to himself if he was trying clear his head and think straight, or trying to coax more information from her eyes.

"Um. Um, where is it?" she chanced.

". . .Where's what?" He figured it out what he wanted. He wanted to talk to her eyes again. He needed to know if happiness could be found in those grave ruby shaded orbs.


	3. Unfamiliar Ceiling

**A/N: Hello, all who read this! My purpose for this story is the how they ended up together. So I want to flush out their characters and give them reasons to do whatever they end up doing. To do so, I might have to defile cannon (As little as I possibly can). I really hope I can accomplish what I'm trying to do. Which is to make an enjoyable story which requires as little of your suspended disbelieve as possible. **

_She's been in there for awhile should I go check on her? _

_How'd this happen? Really? Why do I suck at life so much? _Flaky thought despairingly. For she accidentally locked herself in the bathroom. She sank to the floor with her back to door, placed her head on her knees and wept.

_It's been too long. Something might've happened. _Flippy decided, losing the argument he was holding with himself, to check on his guest. Whom had gone to the restroom fifteen minutes ago.

He knocked lightly at the door and called_ "_Hey, kiddo?" No response.

"Are you okay?" Still no response.

Truly concerned now, his voice became frantic "Hey, I'm going to open the door now!"

Using his shoulder to force the door open after finding it locked didn't seem unreasonable to Flippy at that moment. However, manhandling the door that Flaky was propped against didn't work out in her favor, knocking her fully to floor.

Not that she noticed, as she was unconscious at the time.

Flaky woke up staring at unfamiliar ceiling.

_...? What?_

In a bed. That wasn't hers. Her body felt so tired.

_Did that guy…. Did that guy drug me?_

Tear sprang to her eyes threatening over run her face at the mere thought.

_I thought he was nice. What's gonna happen to me?_

Flippy walked in bowl and a face cloth just in time to see her start hyperventilation.

He rushed to her, setting the bowl of cold water down, speaking as he soaked the cloth in the bowl "Hey, kiddo. Calm down for minute. I'll explain everything, but first you need to breathe. In. Out. Focus. In. Out. Good. Now that we've got enough oxygen in you, I'll tell what happened." Flippy reached out his hand to place the wet towel on Flaky's forehead. She flinched at his touch.

_Okay, so she's still freaked out. _

Flippy sat down in The Chair he had put by the bed. On the first night he simply took a chair out of the kitchen. Later that morning, he regretted it. Soon after, he replaced it with The Chair. He decided if this was going to last more than a day or two it required his vigilance. And his vigilance required The Chair in all its glory. Few the past few days, he'd practically been living in said chair. Not that he would tell her.

_It might scare her to know I sat her to watch her sleep. It sounds creepy. It would've been creepy if she was well. _

"After you left for the bathroom, you didn't come back. I went to check on you. I knocked, no answer. Repeated said process. Decided to bust down the door. Ya see, there are no windows in my bathroom, so you couldn't have left. I just thought something was wrong. As a result I no longer have a functional bathroom door. "

"I'm sorry." she offered weakly.

_I guess I passed out or something. I'm glad he's not a bad guy. _

"Ah, I never really cared for that door anyway. It was too," he trailed off "too doorish" Flippy finished lamely, unable to come with some kind of shortcoming for the now crippled door. In all truthfulness, he kind of liked that door.

_Oh, well. I can fix it. _Letting his gaze rest on the small redheaded creature before him he thought_ It's a lot harder to fix people. _

"Turns out I was right about something being wrong." Flippy resumed informing Flaky what had happened after she went out of commission "I checked you for a fever. You, my friend, are very lucky that I found you when I did, and that I had basic medic training. You collapsed from fatigue. Believe it or not you've spent the past few days fazing in and out of consciousness."

His tale told, Flippy paused to see how she was taking the news of her semi-coma state of mind. When he saw the look of faint confusion he asked "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yes, thank you. But…"

"Yes? What is it, kiddo?"

"Why didn't you take me to a doctor? I'm-I'm not really your problem, you know? So, why?"

Flippy guffawed loudly and shortly after apologized. "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, I swear!" He paused to trying to get the laugh out of his words "It's just that the local, and only doctor here, to put it nicely, is a complete moron! I wouldn't trust him with a stranger's life! And I happen to like you more than a stranger. Please believe when I say if I thought going to that quack would helped, I'd have done it"

A small "Oh." was the only reply.

_Absorbing all this is enough for one night, I should let her sleep._

"One more question." she said meekly as he stood up to leave, or so she thought.

_I knew it! She stutters less, when she's calmer._

"Yeah? Do ya need somethin', kiddo?" he prompted.

"Whose bed is this?"

"Yours, for now." He ruffled her hair and pushed it back as he took the cloth from her forehead, soaking it once more. Reapplying it shortly after "Get some rest, kiddo. Now that you're back in the game, I'm going to be asking you a lot of questions tomorrow."

"Okay."

He left the door slightly ajar, not wanting to have to break another door to later on, in case something happened, then made his way down the hall to the room parallel to the one Flaky was staying in.

_That's fair enough, more than fair, really. After all he's done so much for me. Even if he doesn't feel like this is special treatment, I owe him. Maybe I can fix that door…._

Thoughts and images of doors and nonsensical power tools were the last things floating through her head as she reentered the world of sleep.

_Well, that wasn't so bad. She took that fact that she'd been in and out of it for days fairly well. Maybe tomorrow she'll be up and about. If she is then maybe I can fix that door…._

Nonsensical images of doors and hinges floated into Flippy's dreams.


	4. Florence Nightingale Effect

**Um, sorry for the delay. I have excuses. Good ones. But I bet, you'd rather read the story. I'm truly sorry I fell off the ball on this one. So without further ado, please enjoy.**

**OxOxOxOxOxOx**

Flippy for the first time in a long while slept the night away without incident or interruption. His bouts with insomnia eased his vigil on his Flaky, yet after a few days of constant care slightly strung out concerned for the newest oddity in his life that literally knocked him off his feet had allowed him to pass off into a dreamless sleep that only come by exhaustion. He also awoke without incident, witch felt quite refreshing compared to …

_Don't think about it. Don't think about it. _While Flippy's inner turmoil attempted to manifest itself in the physical realm he continued to war with himself. _Think of something else, anything else. Subject change…., _Glancing about his room for a suitable distraction from destruction, his eyes were drawn towards the light breaking through his window._ What a beautiful sunrise._ He thought frantic at first desperately, then he really looked at it.

"Wow. I don't think I've ever seen one _that _red." Something in him gave pause to that last word. _Red. Intense, beautiful red._

"Oh!" He shot up in bed, as memories of the past few days spent with a small red haired girl (_Girl? Minor? Young woman? Come to think of it, how old is she?)_ frightened of her own shadow.

What was he gonna ask her? Or rather how was going to get any answers? He had no idea how to deal with this situation.

None whatsoever.

_Should I ask where she came from first? Or why she came her? I don't want her to break down again. I'll never get any answers that way. _

Never one to stand idly by, Flippy set to work. Making breakfast. As it allowed him more time to ponder himself in circles. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day anyway.

_Besides the poor kid hasn't eaten much of anything since I meet her, the only thing I got her keep down was weak soup. _

**OxOxOxOxOxOx**

"I'm sorry, what? I can't hear you."

"I said, thank you for breakfast!" she repeated slightly louder, and a lot faster, no longer addressing the sheets she was currently snuggled in where she'd eaten, but rather the bearer of the food she'd downed with a gusto that startled Flippy.

_Figured she'd be hungry, but geez! I didn't think someone that small could consume that much with such speed!_

Thrown slightly off kilter by her sincerity, he replied with a somewhat stilted "You're welcome" Giving his head a slight shake "Ahem, you ready for my questions?"

After much pointless pondering allowed him via breakfast, Flippy decided to play by ear, so to speak. Ask what seemed like generic questions, and avoid pointed ones lest she had a another minor meltdown. _Or heaven forbid, a major one. _He shuddered at the thought.

"Yes." Flippy did his best to not laugh. It was difficult task, what with this tiny thing practically overpowered by the flaming hair that screamed "Look at me!" trying her best to be brave, and look fearless. And failing so completely.

"So, tell me. What brings you to this quaint little town?"

_She's mumbling to the bed again. Am I really that scary? _"Hey, kiddo." he interrupted, "I really can't hear you when you talk to the sheets and blankets. Talk to _me._" he prompted gently.

Flaky took a deep cleansing breath to steady herself, before looking up (_finally!_) to speak to him. "Um, I actually didn't come here on purpose." Proud of herself for not stuttering at all, she offered him a small smile.

"Why wasn't anyone been looking for you? You seem pretty young to be by yourself." _Crap, didn't mean to say that! "_I mean, didn't anyone know you were leaving, or something?" _Please don't breakdown, please don't breakdown. _

He added an encouraging smile, hoping it would her to keep going.

"I left my hometown. She paused for a moment, Flippy didn't say anything because it looked like she was trying to gather more courage than she possessed in entire small being. Taking another deep breath Flaky continued "No one in my hometown was attached. I have no family. I'm no longer a ward of the state, haven't been for a little over a year now. I left when I turned 19." (_Well, that answers the age question._) She turned to look at him., while she hadn't reverted to speaking to the sheets, she'd been looking off to the side so she didn't have to face him, and his green eyes, while she told him her life story. Flaky wasn't a private person per say, it was just that she never had the opportunity to share with someone.

"So, you left your home town with nothing but the clothes on your back?"

"Well, I never had much to start with, but yeah, my clothes and bag." embarrassment colored her tone, mentioning all that she owned with a small breath and brief description.

"Um, you didn't have a bag." Confusion marred her features, "I didn't have a, a, " She began to gesture in the air mimicking the shape with slim fingers "a bag. It's black, a duffel bag with one handle? It's the only thing. . . ." She trailed off, tears brimming her eyes again when he simply shook his head.

"Hey, chin up, kiddo." _Gotta stop calling her that. She not _that_ much younger than me. _"I was gonna go into town tomorrow. But change of plans._ We're_ going into town tomorrow. It's 'bout time you met the locals anyway. While we're there we can check out the lost and found."

Flippy been watching carefully for her reaction, had seen her laboriously swallow her tears, attempting to make room for the hope building slowly in her ruby red eyes. Flippy filled with a new resolve of his own for diverting waterworks for the first time since they meet moved on to other pressing matters of business.

Such as his bathroom door.

"So you feeling up to helping me fix the door, Flaky?" he asked with an easy going grin. She flinched at statement, Flippy assumed that she thought herself to blame for the it's untimely death. _Death? Geez, it's just a door, regardless of how nice. Man, I really need to stop getting so attached to doors that last for more than 6 months. _Yet, the reason was that she was reminded once again, of her name dilemma.

_Nonsense. Forget the pity party for once and help the nice man fix his door. _Timid as she was Flaky, a gentle soul to the core, was a friendly and helpful creature when the fear that ruled her allowed her to be.

Giving Flippy the biggest smile he'd seen her make (i.e. a relatively small, shy shadow of a smile) she spoke soft and clearly "I'd love to."

For some reason or other Flippy's heart seized up for a second. He tried to analyze to sensation but it was gone as suddenly as it came.

Then all the anxiety and nervousness came back, and Flaky turned away from his _very _green eyes.

"I'm actually not terrible with tools." Small as her ego was, it grow substantially on the fact she had stuttered and stumbled over her words in a while, however short.

"Really?" She felt pride swell in her chest that the only thing she heard in voice was open curiosity, instead of a incredulous disbelief.

_Keep it up. Speak clearly. _"Yes, I made some money that way."

"That's good to know. To be honest, I thought I was going to have to buy a new door." He chuckled softy to himself "I'm hopeless when it comes to repairs. I have a tendency to make the problem worse rather than repair it."

She let out a soft sound. Her hand flying quickly to her mouth to smother her mirth, could do nothing to hide the humor found in her eyes.

"It's okay. Go ahead, and laugh. I know I seem like the handy type." At his admittance she let more soft laughter, no longer hidden by her fingers. "I'm sorry," she broke to gather herself, only to laugh again before continuing "You're right, you really do seem like a handy type of guy, especially after you took care me. Hah!" Still let out peels of joy "I'm sorry, that's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time."

"Come on, chuckles. Let's get to fixin'. Or rather get you to fixin' seeing as I'll only cause more damage." Flippy said good naturedly.


End file.
